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MLB Picks

Cardinals & Pirates Meet For Three Game Series

These two teams have split the first two games of this
series, after St. Louis' 6-1 victory Saturday night. The Cards scored three
runs in the first inning off Pirates starter Francisco Liriano, and Joe Kelly
and three relievers made that stand up.

6th
April

Cardinals vs. Pirates Game 3

By: Ron Patrick

Sunday's LineAs of early Sunday AM most baseball books were chalking St.
Louis and Adam Wainwright at right around -155 over Pittsburgh and newcomer
Edinson Volquez, with a total of seven. The Cardinals could also be gotten at
around +105 on the run line.

Sunday's Pitching
Match-UpVolquez will be making his first start for his new team
Sunday, after going 9-12 with a 5.71 ERA last year for San Diego and the
Dodgers. In his first appearance this year he threw two innings of relief
Thursday against the Cubs, allowing just one hit, striking out a pair.

Volquez started twice last year for the Padres against St.
Louis, giving up eight runs and 12 hits in 11 innings. San Diego split those
two games.

Wainwright has won 72 games over the last four seasons,
after going 19-9 with a 2.94 ERA last year.

Wainwright started five times against Pittsburgh last
season, including twice in the playoffs, and beat 'em four times, including in
Game 5 of that NLDS. In total Wainwright threw 37 innings against the Pirates
last year, allowing just nine ER and 26 hits, walking seven while whiffing 35.

Free Pick for SundayWainwright holds a
clear advantage in the pitching match-up, having been tough on Pittsburgh last
season, and we have no idea what the Pirates may get out of Volquez. So we like
St. Louis to take Sunday's game. And since we like to gamble we'll give the run
and a half and go with the Cardinals on the run line for our free MLB pick for
Sunday.

[gameodds]3/261146/?r-1=43-19-349/us[/gameodds]

5th
April

Cardinals vs. Pirates Game 2

By: Ron Patrick

Pittsburgh won as a -115 favorite Friday, and the game went OVER its total of seven runs when the Bucs put up a three-spot in the sixth. Pittsburgh goes for the series victory when the teams meet for Game 2 of this series Saturday evening (6 pm ET).

[gameodds]3/261073/?r-1=43-19-349/us[/gameodds]

Saturday's LineEarly Saturday AM we found the Pirates and Francisco Liriano at -132 at Pinnacle, while the Cardinals and Joe Kelly could be bet at +127 at 5Dimes.

Also, the total was proffered at seven.

Saturday's Pitching Match-UpLiriano (16-8, 3.02 last year) will be making his second start of the season, after throwing six scoreless innings against the Cubs Monday, striking out 10 but getting a no-decision in a game Pittsburgh won in extra innings.

Liriano started four times against St. Louis last year, including once in the playoffs, and came out a winner every time. He gave up just four ER and 13 hits in 30 innings, walking seven while whiffing 25.

Kelly, making his first start of this season, went 10-5 last year with a 2.69 ERA, starting 15 games and making 22 relief appearances. He gave up 124 hits in 124 innings, walked 44 and struck out 79.

Kelly started four times against Pittsburgh last year, including once in the playoffs, and fared well, allowing just four ER and 20 hits in 23 1/3 innings, striking out 18 but walking 13. The Cardinals won three of those four games, and thanks to some solid run support all four games played OVER their totals.

Betting TrendsSt. Louis finished 32 games above .500 last year, but went just 19-23 against left-handed starters.

Pittsburgh went 76-55 last year against righties.

Saturday's Free PickWe give Liriano the advantage in the pitching match-up. Also, we're wondering how much St. Louis misses Carlos Beltran and David Freese; the Cardinals have been held to two runs or fewer in three of their first four games. So we'll go with the Pirates for our free pick on Saturday's game.

4th
April

Cardinals vs. Pirates Game 1

By: Ron Patrick

These teams split 24 games last year; how do we think this
series might play out?

The LineAs of early Friday morning the best line we could find on
Pittsburgh with Gerrit Cole was the -117 offered at Pinnacle, while St. Louis
with Shelby Miller could be gotten at +111 at Bet365.

Also, The Greek was chalking the Pirates at -115 to win this
series, with the Cardinals “getting” -105.

[gameodds]3/260975/?r-1=43-19-349/us[/gameodds]

The SituationPittsburgh opened this season by taking two of three games
from the Cubs, missing out on the sweep by losing 3-2 Thursday. The Pirates
scored a total of just seven runs in the series, but held Chicago to six, as
two of the three games played UNDER their totals, and the other ended on a
PUSH.

Cole didn't start against St. Louis during the regular
season last year, but did start twice against the Cards in the playoffs, and
didn't fare too badly, allowing three ER and just seven baserunners (hits +
walks) through 11 innings. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh only won one of those two
games.

For the season the Pirates went 12-7 in Cole's starts, with
the totals going 8-11.

Cards-Pirates Recent
HistoryPittsburgh took the season series from St. Louis last year
10 games to nine, but the Cardinals then beat the Pirates in an NLDS three
games to two.

Also, the totals trended toward the OVERS in this series
last year by a 16-7-1 margin, even though
Cards-Pirates games averaged a rather normal 8.5 runs per. Apparently
the oddsmakers were underestimating totals in this series just a bit last year.

Game 1 Free PickThis should be a good one, matching two pretty good young
pitchers. Last year Cole was solid in two starts against the Cardinals, while
Miller had trouble with the Pirates. But Miller is better than that, and we
expect a good showing from him tonight. We also give St. Louis the edge with
the sticks. So in a game that looks darn close to a pick 'em we'll go with the
underdog Cardinals for our free MLB pick for Friday.

Tune in this weekend
at this same page for updated pitching previews and more free MLB pick as this
series continues.